We’ve just arrived at our overnight camp in the Sahara and, mercifully, the sandstorm that pelted our arrival has ceased.

After depositing our bags in the tents, we scramble up a dune for our next activity…

Sandboarding!

You may recall this is an activity I’ve done before, at Cape Reigna in New Zealand and Kangaroo Island in Australia. So I’m content to sit this one out and take photos of my tour mates having a blast.

Sisters Natalie and Ellen are skilled surfers in their native Australia and they show us a thing or two on the dunes. They are the most adept at stand-up sand boarding, although in this photo they opt for the sit-down option:

More sand boarding shenanigans:

Karen captures this shot of me watching the group, scoping out the next photo opportunity.

Work it, Katherine!

Tally successfully makes it down the dune standing up:

That’s Shireen and Karen above, and Raamish below.

Here’s our other Natalie, from New Zealand, showing off her moves:

After some encouraging words from the group, I ride down the dune with Tally… GoPro in hand.

Here’s the footage…

Thanks to Tally for the tandem ride!

Ellen and Tally line up for a simultaneous run downhill.

Our guide Mohamed poses atop the dune.

The sky darkens as we take our final runs of the evening.

These are the tents we’ll sleep in tonight. We’re told to watch out for scorpions…

… but luckily those creatures stay hidden.

The weather actually is so hot, even late at night, that our group chooses to sleep outside under the stars. Sleeping mats and blankets are provided.

But back to dinner time. After winding down from sand boarding, our group congregates at these tables. Olives, oh how I love thee.

We raise a glass of mint tea to a successful (and hopefully scorpion-free) night in the Sahara.

Our hosts bring out an impressive dinner of veggies, rice, and meat skewers.

Then we gather around the campfire for music and S’MORES! And I didn’t think this day could get any better.

Fun times around the campfire, brought to you by Nomadic Tours and marshmallow-y goodness.

Our hosts — joined by Mohamed on the far left — break out the instruments and perform for us. Photo by Tally!

Unfortunately there’s almost a full moon so we’re deprived of a star-filled night sky. But this means it’s bright enough that we can walk around without flashlights, which is quite nice.

Truthfully, I have trouble sleeping — possibly disturbed by thoughts of scorpions dancing in my head — and spend most of the night tossing and turning.

We’re up before dawn to catch sunrise on our return hour-long camel trek to civilization.

We climb the first dune just in time to witness that great ball of fire making its morning appearance above the horizon.

Our group is split into two sets of camels, each one lined up nose-to-butt. The first group takes the dune track closer to the sun, while the second group takes a path further back. This is strategic so we can take pictures of each other instead of going in one long line. I happen to be in the group closer to the sun, so I rely on my photo-savvy friends in the back to snap these silhouette images — Tally and Karen came through with my favorite shots from the whole trip. These next few images are courtesy of them. You can spot me in both images on the very last camel, my heavy backpack bouncing awkwardly behind me. The person in front of me fell off. (Kidding.)

One more image by Tally — love this one! Great eye, my friend!

Then our camel groups switch places and I’m able to get similar photos. By now the sun is higher and the sand is practically glowing:

Mohamed walks back ahead of our group, his white robe a statement against the pink dunes.

As the sun climbs higher, our camel shadows embolden along the sand.

Desert castle in the distance:

Playing around with filters in editing to show off these camel shadows:

I’ll close with a few iPhone photos…

And that wraps up our overnight visit to the Sahara. Our bodies will pay for those hour-long camel rides over the next few days… ouch! But it was, without a doubt, worth it.

Many thanks to Nomadic Tours for discounting my tour in exchange for photography and blogging. Opinions are my own.